prepare for noms

Ethiopian Honey Bread & Lemon-Tahini Salad Dressing

May 7, 2012

Dual post! Mostly, for the bread..but because the dressing is excellent it is piggy-backing its way onto this post. Its been a beautiful few days here in Steamboat! I spent the weekend hanging out with friends-mostly outside. Its warm and sunny and everything is blooming. Wow.

Anyways, since I am finally getting back into the swing of things (after epic April and mas travels) it is time to make some bread. I woke up this morning, a severe case of the Mondays abound, and decided to kick it with some productivity. First order, mix up some bread and set it to rise. Next order, clean the house. Spring clean style…as in gathering a thrift store drop-off bin and making sure everything is dusted and clean. Next order…await the bread, start the laundry and head out for a long run.

All of that over with, the warm bread still cooling on the sideboard, I was starving. So I made a great lunch!

I tossed some greens with Tahini-Lemon Salad Dressing, spritzed them with some Balsamic Vinegar and spread some hummus/sliced tomatoes on toast. Fresh Ethiopian Honey Toast, that is. Noms!

Ethiopian Honey Bread:

2.5 tsp yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 egg

1/2 cup honey

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1Tbsp ground coriander

1 cup warm milk

4 Tbsp melted butter (and more for greasing the pans if you want to use butter

4- 4 1/2 cups flour (I used WW)

Directions: Mix yeast and water in a large bowl. Let yeast sit to bloom while you mix honey, egg, spices, warm milk and melted butter. Add honey mixture to the water/yeast once the yeast is bubbly and blooming. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time and stir until the dough is not too sticky that you can pick it out of the bowl in one piece. Knead for 5-7min on a lightly floured surface, mold into a ball and place in a grease bowl. Let rise in a draft-free place for 50-60min or until doubled. Punch it down and knead it a few times, shape into two loaves and place into well-greased bread pans. Let rise in a draft free place for another 50-60min. Preheat oven to 300F about 45min in. Bake bread for 45-55min or until browning on the top. Let cool on a cake rack.

Lemon-Tahini Dressing:

1/3 cup tahini

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup water

1 tsp dill

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Stir well and keep in airtight container in fridge.

Delish! I sort of made up the dressing..I read a few different ones and decided to just go for it. Alternately, you can just put Tahini directly on your salad with olive oil and vinegar. It adds good protein and is tasty! I like the dressing because you can toss things in it..Tahini Cole Slaw here I come!

The bread is excellent! I omitted the coriander because I forgot to buy any…oops! I didn’t miss it though? Good. The bread is pretty hearty and its sweetness can be enhanced if you want to make a sweet toast, but it is not too sweet to be a savory sandwich bread. So good. Thanks to Andrea, for cluing me into this tasty gem!

Meanwhile, the boys got bored and fell asleep on my bed..in the sun..oh gosh to be a cat!